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War Stories – Utah Beach to Pleiku
Stories from Veterans of the 4th Infantry Division World War II – Cold War –
Vietnam
Stories range from a paragraph to eleven pages in length – all are the memories of those who fought across Europe, kept the Russians at bay during the Cold War, and those who fought in the central highlands of Vietnam.
This book will also serve as
the model for a future book to be written with
stories from 4ID and TF Ironhorse Soldiers who
served in the Global War on Terror. More details on
that at a later time.
Table of Contents
History of the 4th Infantry Division
World War II Training Days in USA 1940 to England May 1944 (32 personal stories) D-Day, June 6, 1944 (79 personal stories) Fighting in the Hedgerows: On to Paris – June, July, August, 1944 (94 personal stories) The Siegfried Line to the Hurtgen Forest – Sept, Oct, Nov 1944 (46 personal stories) Luxembourg and the Battle of the Bulge – December 1944 (23 personal stories) Germany – 1945 through End of the War and Deactivation in 1946 (52 personal stories) Stories from the WWII Home Front (6 personal stories)
Cold War Defending Against the Russian Threat (20 personal stories)
Vietnam January to December 1966 (26 personal stories) January to December 1967 (40 personal stories) January to December 1968 (11 personal stories) January to December 1969 (14 personal stories) January to December 1970 (10 personal stories)
Excerpts from “War Stories – Utah Beach to Pleiku”
Harry Bailey, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment recounting June 6, 1944:
“I ran and dropped down beside him to look to see which way to go. He was immediately killed with a hit to the head by a sniper’s bullet. I knew I had to move fast or I would be next, so I ran forward as fast as I could go. The rest of the platoon followed…”
Chaplain George Knapp, 12th Infantry Regiment telling about hedgerow fighting:
“After about a week in combat, it almost got the best of me. After hearing a young company commander talk of getting orders to move out again and how exhausted his men were, it hit me emotionally. I just walked across to the other side of the road, lay down and had a good cry. Then I said to myself, ‘You volunteered for this job, so let’s get going’…”
Tom Reid, Cannon Company, 22nd Infantry Regiment discussing the liberation of Paris:
“Whenever you see the oft printed picture of American troops massed fifty abreast marching down the Champs Elysees in Paris with the Arc de Triomphe in the background and billed as the liberation of Paris, brand it as a phony… That was three or four days after the 4th Infantry Division had rolled through Paris. We had already shaken the dust of France from our boots and would soon be in Germany… Overall, a glorious day.”
John Lester, Battery B, 29th Field Artillery’s memories of the Hurtgen Forest:
“… I sometimes think about the mud and cold of the Hurtgen Forest… One thing that has and still does haunt me is wondering how many enemy soldiers and civilians were killed or crippled for life due to the artillery fire my observers directed on them… The only consoling thought is that, at the time, it had to be done. It was our job and we did it well. I have no regrets – just memories.”
Luella Mullen, wife of Orville Mullen, on being a war bride: “… one time when he was wounded, he wrote a letter to me and said he would write another letter and send me a watch and for me to open the back of the watch and read a note in there. (Censorship didn’t allow sending much information). It told me where he was wounded and how he was doing – he was okay. I bet that’s the first time a wife got a love letter in the back of a pocket watch. A few days later I got a “regret to inform you, your husband has been seriously wounded in combat” letter. Did I say communications were bad? ...”
Leonard Sternicki, HQ, 4th Infantry Division on our Cold War mission in Germany:
“Training was the daily agenda… to be ready for any problem. We were told that our job was to try and hold the enemy back until the 1st Division could set themselves up across the Rhine. We were to be cannon fodder but we made up our minds that we would not be an easy chew if we could help it so we all worked hard to be ready… Our constant training and maneuvers kept the Russians at bay in their territory…”
Albert “Swede” Ekstrom, 4th Aviation, describing participation in a battle in Vietnam:
“Meanwhile, we had taken on fuel and had gotten some items to bring to the fight. When we arrived in the area, there was no available landing zone… But our pilots were definitely 4th Infantry and they had a plan. We were directed to hover down through a hole in the tree line that had been created by a bomb blast from an earlier time…”
Bruce Wesley, 5th Battalion, 16th Field Artillery remembers the Battle of Dak To:
“This was probably the most feared time in my life, when three NVA Infantry Regiments and one NVA Artillery Regiment jumped into the northern area of Dak To from the sanctuary of Laos. Their objective was to take this area by surprise and, I believe to this day, that this was the start of the Tet offensive…”
Greg Rollinger, Company A, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment remembers Vietnam:
“Shortly after my arrival in the squad, our turn came to conduct a short-range patrol. The patrol was to be a three-day ambush with the primary location about three clicks to the northwest of Hill 1049… The first thing I learned after we passed through the perimeter wire was that everyone ignored what we had been told in training as far as carrying your weapon. The first sound you heard was the bolt slamming forward on all the M-16’s, chambering a round…”
To order by mail, send your check or
money order to:
Deeds Publishing
PO Box 682212
Marietta, GA 30068
Ask about quantity discounts on all books published by Deeds Publishing.
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First
published in 2001, “War Stories—Utah Beach to Pleiku”
had been out of print for two years when it was
reprinted in 2005 by Deeds Publishing. This 700
page soft cover book includes almost 450 war stories
from veterans of the 4th Infantry Division—325 from
WWII, 20 from the Cold War, and 100 from Vietnam.